Center for Painted Wall Preservation

09/04/2026

There’s something truly magical about seeing the Rufus Porter school murals under the soft glow of candlelight and flickering oil lamps.

A huge thank you to the Rufus Porter Museum of Art and Ingenuity for putting on such an incredible Night at the Museum! 🕯️🖼️

09/01/2026

Presenting
The Center for Painted Walls
Monthly 100-Piece Jigsaw Puzzle
Challenge yourself with images from our archives!
For September 2026: Timothy Merriman House, Grafton Mass.
Artist unknown

Check our website homepage for puzzle link at: pwpcenter.org

09/01/2026

Small painted folk art objects, such as furniture, boxes, fireboards, and family records, have long been prized by collectors and museums. Large-scale painted walls and murals come from that same American folk art tradition, but they've often been overlooked.

In the latest Plaster Bits article, CPWP President Brian Ehrlich looks at why this dichotomy exists, and why it's finally starting to change:

•The Rufus Porter Museum of Art and Ingenuity in Bridgton, Maine, completed the Graham Center in 2025 to display Jonathan D. Poor murals in their original arrangement.
•Historic Deerfield has acquired a complete set of signed Rufus Porter walls and is planning exhibition space for them.
•The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California, began displaying restored Jonathan D. Poor murals in 2026.
• The Center for Painted Wall Preservation has launched a Virtual Museum of Painted Walls.
• A private collector couple salvaged a "water wall" section from a fire-damaged house, and successfully installed it in their own home.

These examples show that with the right vision, large painted wall fragments can be preserved and celebrated.

Full article linked in the comments 🔗

08/26/2026

For early 19th-century New Englanders, wall paintings were never seen under electric light. Instead, they were brought to life by the soft glow of flickering firelight and oil lamps.

Next Thursday evening, the Rufus Porter Museum of Art and Ingenuity offers a rare chance to experience historic Rufus Porter School murals by candlelight.

🕯️ Ever wondered what painted walls looked like in the 19th century? Join our new Curator, Jessie Burchett, for a Night at the Museum to find out!

🌠 A Night at the Museum welcomes you to step back into the 19th century and explore the iconic painted walls of Rufus Porter and Jonathan D. Poor by firelight. Beginning with a talk by our Curator, Jessie Burchett, we will delve into the history of light, tracing a timeline of invention from candles to oil lamps and gas lighting to the electric light. As the sun sets, we will invite you to walk through our muraled rooms with only candles and oil lamps lighting the way, experiencing these spaces as they would have been when the murals were freshly painted.

🎟️ Members: Free
🎟️ Non-members: $5
Tickets available on our website or in our Museum Store.
👉 www.rufusportermuseum.org/events/

🗓️ Thursday September 3, 6pm
📍 121 Main Street, Bridgton, ME

08/25/2026

🏛️ A dancehall alive with paint and music! 🎨🎶💃🕺

The early 19th-century Hemenway-Coburn Tavern in Pepperell, MA was once a vital stagecoach stop on the route to Boston. Privately owned and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this Federal-style brick landmark holds a stunning secret: vibrant floor-to-ceiling murals hidden beneath layers of history.

As you walk through the front door, you're greeted by a painted waterwall with a tall ship. Moving up the staircase, painted trees guide you up to a third-floor ballroom built for 100 dancing couples, complete with an elevated minstrel gallery for the musicians.

Research by the Center for the Preservation of Wall Painting links these unsigned works to itinerant artist Jonathan D. Poor. A section of the mural depicts the Prescott Guards, a local volunteer militia started in 1820, that regularly held drills and dances at the tavern.

08/04/2026

🏡 The "Tree Room" Murals of the Barrows-Steadman Homestead

The historic Barrows-Steadman Homestead in Fryeburg, Maine, holds an extraordinary piece of 19th-century history. Built c. 1809, this straightforward rural Federal-style home features remarkably well-preserved folk art murals in its back upper bedchamber, affectionately known as the "Tree Room." 🌳

What makes this painted room so unique:
• Kept within a single family for most of its existence, the murals are in excellent condition with no non-period overpainting.
• The walls feature painted orchards, sailing vessels, and an observatory, likely a nod to the 1807 Portland Observatory, marked by later graffiti inscribing "Portland."
• While unsigned, the murals strongly mirror the work of itinerant painter J.D. Poor. Certain tree details also lean toward Orison Woods, raising the cool possibility that both artists had a hand in painting the room. 🎨

08/01/2026

Presenting
The Center for Painted Walls Monthly 100-Piece Jigsaw Puzzle
Challenge yourself with images from our archives!
For August, 2026: Barrows House, Fryeburg, ME
Attributed to J. D. Poor

Link to the puzzle is on the CPWP homepage at: pwpcenter.org

07/16/2026

The second-floor guest room of the Littleton Inn (now a private home) in Littleton, New Hampshire, features folk art murals that have remained entirely untouched since they were painted between 1800 and 1810.

Predating the famous Rufus Porter school, this anonymous artist used a flat, primitive style defined by sweeping, mounded hills, wide brushstrokes, stenciled animals, and straight-trunked trees. Scholars at the Center for Painted Wall Preservation (CPWP) have traced this unique artistic fingerprint to four other homes within a 50-mile radius.

Early 19th-century taverns sometimes hosted traveling exhibitions of exotic beasts. This artist incorporates these curiosities into his landscapes. A prime example is the Littleton Inn's giant camel, which is ridden by a stenciled Hessian soldier.